Behind the Camera
by Silent Sage
Summary: AU Faces painted to please the viewer. Their expressions planned. Models wear a mask to suit the product, but their eyes are uncovered. Lee loves capturing those open emotions with his camera. Meeting Neji, he sees eyes so guarded.


**Behind The Camera**

**Disclaimer**: Naruto and all characters pertaining to the Naruto-verse belong to creator Masashi Kishimoto.

"Neji, that was a really wonderful shot!" Lee exclaimed, looking up from his camera to look at the dark haired model posed serenely before him. Carefully setting his camera on a table close by, he gave Neji a double thumb's up, a bright smile at the still posing model, "Alright, we are done for today! You can relax now."

The second Lee said that the shoot was done for the day, Neji relaxed, slumping ever so slightly to relax his sore muscles. He ached, especially his face, ever so slightly from all of the posing from his afternoon.

He was shooting the newest fashion for the spring collection. They were shooting in the middle of fall nevertheless, and the cold weather had somewhat effected his mood for the day. He reveled in the cold atmosphere, but to bring in the 'spring' atmosphere, the workers for the set they were shooting at had brought in portable heaters, giving the models at the shoot a 'spring' glow.

Languidly stretching his arms above his head, the model smoothly walked away from the burning heat of the lights and heaters toward the cooler area to where Lee was enthusiastically chatting to Tenten, the computer expert and editor of photography, about the pictures.

"Not bad Lee, it looks I won't be doing an all nighter on these photos."

"I know! I really like this one right here. The light was especially excellent at this angle."

Neji leaned lightly against the table where Lee and Tenten were gushing about his pictures, examining his photos with a critical eye.

One picture he was leaning back slightly, his partially bottom up shirt, showing his firm stomach, made him cringe slightly. It made him look like he had a beer belly from the angle he had situated himself in, in front of the camera.

Another where was leaning against a fence, he had leaned forward slightly too much, resting predominantly on his right leg, causing his left leg to be hidden in the shadows, making it seem he had no left leg.

Mental note: Make sure the first particular picture with the beer belly never shows up in the history of humankind.

Tenten only skimmed a few of them, but the majority, even to his high standards, was decent. Even the decent would, because it was he, Hyuuga Neji, they would no doubt appear in at least one high profile magazine. His infamy as a model was famous enough for it after all.

"Neji, most of these photos are usable, so you can change and leave for today," Tenten said, looking up from the laptop with a knowing smile. Having working with him often in the past, the rumors she had heard (and soon confirmed) about him were true, he was just as critical with himself about his pictures, as well as the editors he worked with.

A model that was not only at the top of the game in the fashion industry, but knew what worked and didn't work in his pictures, personal bias was thrown out the window when it came to his unusually pale eyes.

Ah…if only other models could learn from this pictures as well as Neji could.

Nodding his head slightly in response to Tenten's praise, Neji abruptly turned around, and headed for the dressing room to change out of this ridiculously cool and intricate outfit. Walking to the dressing rooms, even with his fast pace, Neji made his walk look so graceful that Lee, watching the other walk away, was itching to pick up his camera and take another, if not roll, of pictures.

A discreet…but warm scent…was wafting through the air after Neji passed by…

Lee blinked at the scent, sniffing the air harder. It was…familiar, but the delicateness of the scent made it hard for him to pinpoint it.

His eyes narrowed at the shoot. Where Neji had been standing, there were large, elaborate bundles of white jasmine flowers. Slowly walking over to the set, he gingerly pulled one of the small flowers from the clusters upon clusters of flowers that that the scene coordinators and helpers carefully and intricately situated on set.

Lee involuntarily sighed, twirling the delicate smelling flower in his hand close to his nose. The smell floating toward his nose was similar to Neji's scent…except, to Lee, it was less delicate, but strong and powerful. It was fitting for a strong, but quiet person such as Neji.

Looking at the blossom closely, there was a close resemblance not only in scent, but also in color. Near the bud, the fragile white petals held a purplish hue, similar to Neji's eyes. Although many people, including himself in the very beginning when he had merely gawked at the striking man from far away, thought his eyes were not a pure white. Looking through the lens of his camera, asking Neji to tilt his head toward the light slightly, and zooming in ever so slightly, Lee gaped at the sudden revelation about the Hyuuga's eye color.

Lee felt, even if it was one of the most insignificant observations in the world, he felt he knew about Neji a little more. It was small, but something only someone who saw Neji as closely as he did, and in person nonetheless, it was something special to him.

The small, heavy sound of a sigh from the unusually boisterous and happy photographer made Tenten look up at him curiously. The editor and photographer worked pretty close together on most shoots, and having worked with the eccentric Lee early on in her career, she had never seen him act so…calm. No…not calm, but…Tenten couldn't put her finger on it exactly, but it was more…depressed than anything else was. Seeing the flower that Neji had been posing with was a definite indicator of the person that Lee might be thinking of.

"Gif cis cu Eji," Tenten mumbled, stylus in mouth, as she handed him a memory disk she had just pulled out of the USB drive. Only having two hands, she placed the stylus, for the tablet PC sitting in her lap, in her mouth. With the other free hand, she was typing personal notes on the computer in front of her. Lee accepted the memory card, allowing her to take the stylus from her mouth, circling a red mard around Neji's cheek. It was a note for her to edit out the barely noticeable marks on his pale skin.

Looking up at silence, she noticed the confused look Lee was giving to her. Her right hand now free after handing Lee the memory disk, she grinned. "Ah, sorry, I didn't realize I had the stylus in my hand when I walk talking. I just had to take a note of one of his pictures.

Smiling sheepishly, she continued, "Anyway, I said 'Give this to Neji'. He personally asked me to save all of his photos in a memory card so that he could inspect it later. Why don't you give it to him for me now since you're done of the day too?"

"I would be more than happy to!" Lee brightened considerably at the thought of being able to talk to Neji one on one. Tucking the small flower into his vest pocket, he nearly sprinted away, leaving an amused Tenten behind, the glow from the laptop making her small smile somewhat devious. It would've been more devious if she hadn't placed the stylus back in her mouth.

Poking his head in the dressing rooms, Lee abruptly saw a face full of red and white plaid. Peeling it off his face, he saw that it was a flannel shirt.

Flying…clothes?

"I want an orange shirt!"

"Naruto, wear what the designers give you before I clobber you!"

"But I look best in orange!"

"You'll look better with my fist shoved up your ah….ah, Lee!" Sakura, midway to clobbering the blonde with a straight iron, who was currently cowering behind a stoic Shikamaru and Sasuke, greeted the photographer happily. Her furious face immediately replaced by a gracious and welcoming smile, Naruto, forgotten as she saw Lee stand awkwardly in the middle of the doorway.

"What brings you to our lovely…" looking around at the mess of clothes, cosmetics, and other miscellaneous items scattered around the cramped dressing room, Sakura smiled bashfully as she placed the straight iron down on the counter, and in turn, grabbed a kabuki brush, "…abode."

"One moment Lee," Sakura turned around; the sweet, endearing smile vanished in a split second, replaced with a ferocious glare from before. Placing one hand on her hips, the pink-haired makeup artist gave Naruto a look that swore death if he didn't do exactly as she wished, her cheek twitching as she moved her other hand toward a chair. "Sit down right now before I _make_ you."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, questioning why he had to be the shield in this situation. He should've gone with the family farming business rather than choose modeling. Modeling seemed easier. Just pose and look pretty. Ha! He'd rather clean the deer antlers rather than face the wrath of Haruno Sakura. Familiar high-heeled footsteps echoed on the concrete hallway, very recognizable as he heard a familiar voice call out to a nameless person also in the hallway. A wave of relief washing throughout Shikamaru's system as he found his way out of this predicament, but for his own satisfaction, he grunted his usual phrase at the situation, "How troublesome."

His savior arrived in a loud, boisterous voice unbefitting the delicate women that walked right in. Arriving in a wave of blonde and purple, Ino smiled brightly as she spotted Shikamaru. "Come here Shikamaru, this suit would look absolutely fabulous on you,"

Shikamaru's suit, a carefully tailored, black and forest green suit with a grey dress shirt and a silk black and grey tie, all surrounded by protective plastic, and held carefully in her slim hands. It was something for your average, multimillionaire executive.

Cerulean eyes narrowed at the scene. Ino's face took on a look of pure dumbfound, that is, until her mind added one plus one, seeing Naruto, a look of pure horror and Sakura holding a brush threateningly in her hand. She smirked. "Geez Sakura, having trouble with the models are, are you?"

The prodding from the clothes coordinator only forced Sakura's temper to flare up further. The innocent smile on Ino's face only made it worse, the Kabuki brush in Sakura's hand shook slightly in her tight grip.

Naruto would PAY.

"Come on Ino, I might as well put on my clothes while Sakura finishes up with Naruto. I can get pretty after I put on some clothes," Shikamaru said calmly, almost lazily. It was too troublesome to have a catfight when the photo shoot schedule was tight. That and the scene coordinator would probably nag them to death if word got to him about the delay in schedule. The most rational option was to appease the two females rather than being bored to death with a lecture of punctuality.

Sasuke, thinking the same thing, shook his head, knowing Sakura would cause a scene if Naruto didn't hurry up and set his butt down at the chair. Kicking the stubborn blonde behind toward the chair, he sneered, knowing exactly how to push Naruto's buttons. "Hurry up kid, some of us has to get to our shoots done today too."

Stumbling forward into the seat, Naruto stuck out his tongue at Sasuke until Sakura flicked her finger at his cheek, forcing his tongue back into his mouth from surprise. "Sakura!"

"Naruto, be serious, I have to apply this makeup on," Sakura said, her voice slightly exasperated as she carefully dabbed on blush to his cheeks, covering the small flaws on his skin, and extenuating the whiskers like marks on his tanned cheeks.

Although Naruto was one of the newer models signed onto the label, he held still like a professional. Even better, his skin was near to perfect except for some small, but barely noticeable imperfections, allowing Sakura to apply a small amount of bronzer to give him a more even skin tone. The camera hid no flaw after all.

"Oh Lee," Ino paused, noticing the photographer, who was looking out of place amongst the clutter, before she and Shikamaru disappeared around the corner, "What brings you here?"

"Ah," Lee jumped slightly, suddenly in the spotlight as Shikamaru poked his head from the corner to look at him, and Sasuke turned his eyes toward him in mild interest. "I-I was just hoping to find Neji here. I have something for him from Tenten."

"Neji…I think he said since he was done of the day, he was going back to his apartment," Ino placed a finger against her cheek in thought. "Hey Shikamaru, weren't you the last one to see him?"

"Yeah, I saw him go out the back way toward his Mercedes Benz," Shikamaru shrugged, before abruptly walking off to the changing area. He wanted to get his shoot done and flop down on the couch to sleep the rest of the day away.

Ino huffed at his unenthusiastic confirmation before following him, giving everyone a smile in goodbye. "I hope you find him soon Lee."

"Oh…" Lee's shoulders sagged in disappointment at having missed Neji.

Sakura, side glancing at Lee's reaction, placed her mascara brush down, a helpful smile on her face. "Hey, I think I have his address, you can go visit him at his apartment if you really need to see him."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other for a moment, then at her, their carefully arched eyebrows raised at how she had gotten a hold of the elusive model's address.

"I-I know all of my clients home addresses, it's part of the job," Sakura stuttered defensively, a soft pink blush forming on her high cheek bones as she raised her hands in front of her in defense. "Besides, I'm a professional; I only make house calls if it's the absolute emergency."

"So…if I have a huge pimple right smack dab on my nose, you'll personally come to my apartment to cover it up," Naruto teased, his eyes closed and a wayward smile planted on his face, one of his trademark poses that turned Sakura pink blush into a red fury.

That day, Lee learned to beware of the dressing rooms.

"Here Lee," Sakura smiled brightly, the whole incident involving Naruto, a surprisingly strong wool scarf, and many, many, _many_ cases of neon colored lip sticks in the very back of her mind as she handed Lee Neji's address. She winked as she turned around toward the dressing room where Sasuke was eyeing an elaborately tied up Naruto, "If you can, find out what he uses for his skin. I would die for the secret of his flawless skin."

"Yes, of course Sakura," Lee smiled politely, watching as the pink haired woman disappeared in the dressing rooms. He shivered; glad to be working with Tenten. Although Tenten had her moments, especially dealing with the immature, prim Donna like models, she was Gandhi compared to Sakura.

Looking down at the small, white piece of paper, Lee bit the bottom of his lip anxiously. It wouldn't be…rude, to appear suddenly in front of Neji's doorstep unannounced, right? He was doing the model a favor after all. Carefully wrapping the piece of paper around the memory stick, Lee gingerly placed the parcel in this vest pocket, where he stored all of his other important camera knickknacks. On the other side of his vest, the small flower peeked securely from his pocket.

"Be calm Lee…this is just another model, you have interacted with many before…" Lee murmured to himself, trying to stop the rapid beating of his heart at the thought of meeting Neji in such a…personal setting like his own apartment. The small, Jasmine flower…with the same alluring scent of Neji helped to soothe his tense nerves ever so slightly.

He was nervous. That was it. Yeah.

Nervous.

* * *

**SS**: This is for the 30flowers comm. on LJ. It's also an AU. I wonder if this is considered newbie..ish. Especially since I tried to get their personalities down pat, but rushed it slightly. Eh..hopefully they're not TOO OOC that I get flamed at. XD Still, comments, especially about my horrible grammar that could kill an Eng. majour. LoL 


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